Putin Favorite Re-emerging In Ukraine

By JUDY DEMPSEY

Published: July 19, 2006

Viktor F. Yanukovich, the Russia-backed Ukrainian politician vanquished by the Orange Revolution of 2004, was poised Tuesday to make a spectacular comeback as prime minister after the pro-West president, Viktor A. Yushchenko, said his party would not join a broad governing coalition.

With Mr. Yushchenko saying he would take his Our Ukraine party into the parliamentary opposition, Ukraine appeared on course to be led by Mr. Yanukovich. At the same time, a political rival, Yulia V. Tymoshenko, accused Mr. Yanukovich of staging a coup.

Mr. Yanukovich, 56, had the strong support of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia during the first round of presidential elections in November 2004, in which he declared himself the winner. But after hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, claiming election fraud, a new election was held in January 2005 and was won by Mr. Yushchenko.

Public support for Mr. Yushchenko's party has suffered amid infighting and accusations of corruption, which opened the door for Mr. Yanukovich to make a comeback in parliamentary elections in March. His Party of the Regions won the most votes, but not enough to form a stable government. Since then, Ukraine has been in political limbo.

Two previous attempts to form a governing coalition have failed, but now the Communists and Socialists have thrown their support behind Mr. Yanukovich. On Tuesday, his supporters said they had enough allies in Parliament to govern Ukraine.

''We have removed all barriers for the president'' to submit Mr. Yanukovich's name for prime minister, said Evhen Kushnaryov, a Party of the Regions senior official.

Ms. Tymoshenko, a leader of the pro-democratic Orange Revolution of December 2004 and a former prime minister, retorted that opposition members should now give up their parliamentary mandates, declare the government illegitimate and dissolve Parliament under constitutional rules.

''I want people of good will, intelligent people who don't consider Ukraine's independence to be empty words, to understand that a political coup is taking place today in Parliament,'' she said.

Mr. Yushchenko tried after the March elections to create a stable coalition with Ms. Tymoshenko, in a deal that would have restored her to the prime minister post he had fired her from only months before. But the agreement depended on support from the Socialist Party, and the coalition collapsed two weeks ago when the Socialists defected to the Yanukovich camp.

Given the political tensions in the government, analysts were skeptical that Mr. Yanukovich could usher in the stability needed to introduce economic and political reforms and complete the country's negotiations to join the World Trade Organization.

Mr. Yanukovich's alliance with the Communist and Socialist parties, which oppose membership in NATO as his party does, decreases the chances that the Bush administration will be able to offer Ukraine a timetable for membership during a meeting of NATO leaders in November in Riga, Latvia.

Mr. Yushchenko had promised radical reforms demanded by the supporters of the Orange Revolution.

Since then, because of new constitutional rules introduced in January, he has been stripped of some of his most important presidential powers, including the right to appoint the prime minister. He has, however, the right to nominate the powerful ministers of defense and foreign affairs.

''The president remains an important player,'' said Olexiy Haran, regional vice president of the Kiev office of the Eurasia Foundation, an American-based group that gives grants in the former Soviet Union. ''The effective working of any cabinet will depend on cohabitation with the president.''

Mr. Yanukovich has until Tuesday to create a cabinet; if he fails, Mr. Yushchenko has the right to dissolve Parliament and call new elections.

Photo: Viktor F. Yanukovich, in dark suit at center, at a political gathering on July 8 in Kiev, Ukraine. He has benefited from dwindling support for President Viktor A. Yushchenko, whose party has been accused of corruption. (Photo by Joseph Sywenkyj)